Literature Road Map model

The Department of Information Studies from the University of Sheffield has developed a very interesting way of presenting literature reviews, the Literature Roap Map.  Here’s one on Learning Technologies in the Workplace.

It presents the literarure review in a tree structure, with links to the publications organised under headings. It is a very innovative way to organise existing publications on a given topic and share this with other researchers. There is no explanation as to how the map tool has been developed, is it a simple database with some Flash animations?

The Blend-XL

The Blend XL EU funded project

Teaching (extra) large groups of students is an increasingly common phenomenon in higher education. Especially in the first year of study, many students follow introductory courses or core modules.

These courses are often taught in large groups in big lecture theatres. This arrangement is often found de-motivating and impersonal by students and teachers. A general lack of communication is one perceived problem but there are more.

As a result, success rates on the exams are usually low as well as student retention rates. In engineering studies, for instance, high drop-out rates have been leading to a serious shortage of engineers at a European level.

The Blend-XL project addresses these challenges and problem areas. The idea behind the project is that large-scale education can indeed be made more motivating and more personal through the effective use of technologies, media and tools.

This is a three-year EU funded project in the Minerva programme. ‘Blend’ in the title is a reference to the development of blended learning and teaching. This ‘blending’ is done on a variety of dimensions such as pedagogy, design, delivery, technology.

Book and research framework

Design, development, implementation and evaluation of open, flexible and distributed learning systems require thoughtful analysis and investigation of how to use the attributes and resources of the Internet and digital technologies in concert with instructional design principles and issues important to various dimensions of online learning environments.

Badrul Khan has developed A Framework for E-learning. These factors can encompass various online learning issues, including: pedagogical, technological, interface design, evaluation, management, resource support, ethical and institutional. Various factors discussed in the eight dimensions of the framework can provide guidance in the design, development, delivery and evaluation of flexible, open and distance learning environments.

The E-Learning Framework was reviewed by scholars and practitioners from various countries around the globe, including USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, South Africa, Turkey, Korea and China.

The E-Learning framework has the potential to provide guidance in

1. planning and designing e-learning materials,
2. organizing resources for e-learning environment,
3. designing distributed learning systems, corporate universities, virtual universities and cyberschools,
4. designing LMS, LCMS and comprehensive authoring systems (e.g., Omni),
5. evaluating e-learning courses, and programs.
6. evaluating e-learning authoring tools/systems, LMS and LCMS.
7. designing and evaluating blended learning environments

http://www.bookstoread.com/framework/